ProteinSimple's Single-Cell Western platform named #1 on The Scientist's Top 10 Innovations of 2016

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For nine years running, The Scientist has sought out recently released laboratory and research products that are making waves in life science laboratories. And for nine years, their expert panels of independent judges have highlighted some of the most innovative life science tools, software, and techniques to hit the market. The Milo Single-Cell Western platform by ProteinSimple, a brand of Bio-Techne Corporation, has been selected as the #1 Innovation of 2016 by The Scientist magazine.

The Milo Single-Cell Western system makes it possible to perform westerns (an analytical technique to detect proteins) on thousands of single-cells in parallel for the first time. The assay is performed in a scWest chip which utilizes microfluidic technology to isolate and capture ~1,000 single-cells. Milo then lyses the cells, completes a rapid (~60 sec) electrophoretic SDS-PAGE separation on each single-cell lysate, and immobilizes the separated protein bands in the gel – thereby eliminating the transfer step of traditional westerns. scWest chips are probed with conventional western antibodies, allowing researchers to measure proteins for which there are not good flow or mass cytometry antibodies and obtain western-based protein validation of their single-cell RNA results.

"We are thrilled that Milo has been recognized as a transformative tool that brings the power of Western blotting to single-cell research," said Bob Gavin, Senior Vice President of Protein Platforms. "Milo allows researchers to make measurements they cannot make any other way, thereby revealing novel insights about the role cell heterogeneity plays in health and disease."

ProteinSimple, is part of the Protein Platforms division of Bio-Techne (NASDAQ: TECH). We're rethinking protein tools and helping thousands of researchers around the world resolve their protein analysis problems so they can reveal new insight into proteins and their role in disease. Our wide-ranging portfolio of tools includes everything from immunoassay systems that quantify protein expression to systems that probe the structure and purity of protein-based therapeutics.